New Balance is a global game modification for Gothic 2, which expands the world of Gothic by about 4-5 times and is based on the sources/quests/locations of the Returning 2.0 modification (the name Returning has been removed at the request of the original mod's author). The mod started to be created in late 2017 (previously the mod was called Alternative Balance).
Approximately 6000 changes have been made to 2024 (compared to the 2017 Returning 2.0 mod). The mod has been improved for over 6 years.

New Balance is an extensive modification for the game Gothic II: Night of the Raven, which adds new side quests and expands existing ones. The modification includes interesting new camps and character classes, as well as new skills such as intelligence, demonology, shield fighting, dual wielding, rhetoric, mining, arrow crafting, and many others. In addition to the classic three side guilds, new main guilds have also been added, creating the New Balance (NB) expansion, which is based on the Returning 2.0 version and aims to balance, improve, and enhance gameplay in every aspect. This is achieved by changing systems that were previously implemented in the game, such as altering the damage calculation rules or the number of experience points, and by adding new systems like the boss system, which rewards us with Knowledge Points for defeating them. This mod essentially selects the best elements from other mods and contributions from the Gothic community and integrates everything into one ultimate mod.

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This mod offers a wide range of options for character creation and their combinations - there are 12 character classes and 3 subclasses in this mod, which can be combined with the main class (if appropriate). Unlike other mods, which you complete once or twice and then there's not much new to discover, New Balance can be played for several years and completed up to 20 times, without exhausting all the gameplay styles (there are many different character builds). This mod's longevity, which the hardcore community has been playing repeatedly for over 6 years, is further enhanced by the difficulty configuration options up to extremely challenging levels and many additional plugins and supplements that can make the game almost impossible to complete. There is also a submod called Magic Rebalance, which shifts this mod slightly more towards the style of games like Diablo and adds many new randomly generated items. The community for this mod is very lively and active, with new additions and updates continuously being released around this mod.

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Attention! The mode assumes you know the world of Gothic 2, because in addition to the original game there are a huge number of new locations, quests, reworked mechanics.

If you haven't played Gothic 2 for too long, it's better to play through the original first.